Drawing
with Crayons

Young
children are active learners who learn through play. Drawing is play with
line, color, placement, form, symbol, and image. The beginning of almost
all works of art involves the use of line, one of the basic components
of art. Lines are the foundations for shape and form. They can be straight,
curvy, wavy, skinny or fat. Lines can be made with the specific purpose
of conveying movement. Ideas for drawing are endless.

Teacher's
Role
Teachers can make sure that basic art materials are readily available
as a choice to support learning. Activities can be extended by providing
additional materials and knowledge. Teachers can foster and stimulate
interest by introducing art materials at other play centers, such as
dramatic play. Crayons and other drawing tools can be used to change
the dramatic play area into an artist's studio. Teachers can also foster
children's perceptive and reflective knowledge and skills by engaging
them in informal discussions about their work, by displaying art reproductions,
by arranging trips to an art museum, by inviting adult artists to the
classroom to demonstrate their work, and by making books with quality
drawings available to children.

A variety of paper, including newsprint, white drawing, or construction
paper. Children should have the opportunity to draw with different
sizes and textures of paper. Larger paper allows children maximum
use of arm movements.

Procedure
Children develop symbols through hands-on experiences. Therefore, drawing
and mark-making tools need to be available and accessible to children
so they may become familiar with and explore the media. Invite children
to explore materials with you. Model and demonstrate making marks on
your paper. Encourage using soft and hard pressure with the crayon on
the paper, using two crayons together, and using the point, side, and
end of the crayon. As you make soft or hard marks on your paper, verbally
describe what you are doing. Say something like, "When I rub real hard,
the marks are strong and bright. When I move my arm around and around,
the marks on the paper also go around and around." Be available to facilitate
and model interaction with materials, providing children with opportunities
to explore, to compare their understanding of the world, and to apply
the knowledge they have gained. Follow the child's lead and verbally
describe the child's actions and resulting marks. "When you make your
arm go up and down, your lines go up and down on the paper. Show me
how you did that." Encourage exploration with a variety of whole arm
movements and wrist movements. Young children, especially those in the
sensory motor stage, will not see the paper as being separate from the
rest of their drawing environment. Drawing marks will often go off the
paper. A washable drawing surface works best for easy cleaning after
the drawing activity.

Many
children enjoy using the point of the crayon to make dots. Do not be
concerned about the noise level and the wear and tear on the crayons
during this activity. This is a natural process of the learning cycle
and making dots can be used to explore movement and sound. It may be
beneficial to have the children change the beat or rhythm of their dot
making. This can be done by saying, "Let's make our dots softly." Other
ways to explore dot making areby saying, "Let's see what happens when
we make our dots fast (slow, hard, or soft)."

Adaptations
Many adaptations are available if the child's grip is limited. You can
tape together two or three crayons, use chubby stump crayons or sure-grip
crayons. Other options include fitting the crayon with a type of adaptive
grip device or using an adaptive grip device that straps to the child's
hand.

Crayon
stubs and broken pieces can be placed in separate sections of a muffin
pan and melted in a warm oven to create large circular crayon chips.
Children with limited grips can grasp the crayon chip with the entire
hand and the classroom has a new variety of crayon shapes to use.

Drawing
activities take two hands, one to hold the paper while the other uses
the drawing tool. Masking tape at the corners of the paper can help
keep it in place while drawing.

Try
using sandpaper, felt sheets, or corrugated paper for the child with
visual disabilities. These will provide texture and friction that will
create sound as the child draws.

Dark
colors (black, brown, purple, or blue) make high contrast marks on white
paper. Using these colors can benefit children with visual disabilities.

Computer
Software Applications
The computer can be used as a different type of drawing tool, with the
children exploring each program's features. The following are computer
software that includes draw programs for use with a TouchWindow, or
a mouse.